Election Bits Add Up To Fascinating Picture

Election Day, Election Night. There was the publicized, televised drama, the parade of candidates` faces. Then there were the bit players: the campaign workers, the hangers-on, the voters themselves -- the silliness and seriousness that make politics human.

From the condominiums of Deerfield Beach, to the middle-class homes of Plantation, to the poor, black neighborhoods of Northwest Fort Lauderdale, Broward voters marched to the polls.

County officials had predicted a 65 percent turnout for Tuesday`s election, and -- judging from the large numbers of people at various polling places in the county -- that prediction might have come true.

``Yes, it`s very good,`` said Hortense Edgecombe, an elections official at Precinct 45K, 440 NW 6th St. in Fort Lauderdale. At 4 p.m., about 240 of the precinct`s approximately 700 voters had shown up to cast ballots.

EARLY BIRDS GET TO VOTE...

Whatever the tally of voters, however, Alan Chesler of Pembroke Pines won`t be one of them.

Chesler said he, his wife and two other people were turned away from a polling place at one minute to 7 o`clock, even though the polls are supposed to stay open until at least 7 p.m.

``My watch said one minute to seven, my wife`s watch said one minute to seven, the deputy who turned us away, his watch said one minute to seven,`` complained Chesler. ``I heard on the radio this morning that, if you got into the polling place by seven, they would let you vote.``

Later that evening, Chesler -- who deserves to win some sort of perseverence award -- called the county elections office, still seeking to cast his ballot. He was turned down.

``I wanted to vote,`` he said. ``I`ve been cheated out of voting.``

LEGAL MEANS OF BUYING VOTES.7 AT DAILY DINNERS CATERING SERVICE IN FORT LAUDERDALE, MEANWHILE, THEY WERE BUYING VOTES. THAT`S RIGHT, THE OWNER OF THE PLACE -- RAYMOND BEES -- WAS PAYING FIVE DOLLARS TO ANY EMPLOYEE WHO VOTED. ACCORDING TO DAWN YATES, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY, GOOD OLD-FASHIONED CAPITALISM WAS STRIKING A PATRIOTIC CHORD WITH THE COMPANY`S 75 PART-TIME AND FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES. ``FOR THE ONES WHO ALREADY VOTED ON THEIR OWN ACCOUNT, THEY WERE PLEASED, AND THE ONES WHO DIDN`T, IT KIND OF GAVE THEM A BOOST,`` SHE SAID. ``YOU`D BE SURPRISED. IT`S A VERY GOOD INCENTIVE.`` A WINNER OF AN ELECTION SPREAD

Then there were the Election Night parties, which had their own winners and losers.

Skeet Jernigan, executive director of the Broward Economic Development Board and a self-described connoisseur of campaign soirees, declared Rep. Anne MacKenzie`s party, at the Rio Vista Boulevard home of Bill and Susan Telli, the winner -- hands down (hand-to-mouth?).

The party featured loads of homemade goodies, including honey-roasted cashews, honey-baked ham, cold salads, and ``great meatballs,`` Jernigan said.

Paul Tanner, former aide to Vice President George Bush and unsuccessful candidate for the Port Everglades Commission, agreed:

``She could run for governor with a menu like that,`` he said.

GUBERNATORIAL GRAFFITI

Every Election Day has its last-minute campaigning, and this one was no different.

Gubernatorial candidate Steve Pajcic got some free -- if unauthorized -- political advertising on a billboard west of Interstate 95, north of the Griffin Road exit.

Somebody decorated the blank billboard with the names of Pajcic and his running mate, Frank Mann, in bright-pink spray paint.

EQUAL TIME ON I-95

I-95 was a popular campaign spot, in fact.

Bud Drago and Karen Goldstrand were driving along the interstate about 7:30 Tuesday morning when they spotted a campaign sign for Broward County Commissioner Nicki Grossman plastered on one of the unfinished bridges across the South Fork of New River just west of State Road 84.

Drago is the campaign manager and Goldstrand the secretary for Ralph Finno, Grossman`s Republican opponent.

Showing that loyalty -- or politics -- knows no bounds, Drago and Goldstrand walked out onto one of the concrete beams of the bridge and held up an 8-foot- high, Finno-for-Commissioner campaign sign.

``Ours was the tallest one up there,`` declared Drago. Asked how long he and his partner maintained their rather precarious perch, Drago said, ``too long.``

CHANGING POLITICAL CAREERS

The Fort Lauderdale City Commission used Election Day to say goodbye to Mayor Robert Dressler, who resigned to run this year against state Sen. Tom McPherson of Fort Lauderdale.

Along with a plaque, the commissioners gave Dressler an empty six-pack, a not-so-veiled reference to the time burglars broke into Dressler`s office and the theft report later listed beer as one of the stolen items.